This application relates to low profile, conformal antennas.
It is known that wide bandwidth, miniaturized antennas can be provided using planar conductors fed through frequency-dependent impedance elements such as meander lines. By arranging these components in an appropriate configuration, the electrical properties of the antenna can be passively and automatically optimized over a wide bandwidth. In one arrangement, a conductive surface placed over a conductive cavity serves as a primary radiator, and meander line components are embedded within the conductive cavity. This approach is particularly useful in aircraft and other vehicle applications since no part of the antenna needs to protrude beyond the skin of the vehicle. The approach can also be adapted to wireless devices and laptop computers and the like where the antenna height can be minimized.
In one specific implementation, a wideband antenna can be provided using these techniques that covers not only the cellular telephone frequencies, but also the Personal Communicator System (PCS), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) and GPS frequency bands. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,436,369 issued to Apostolos.